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Friday, 16 June 2017

Saturday, June 17, 2017 - When you say, “YES” do you mean YES?

The
fourth of the six antitheses is completely a Matthean composition. There is no
precedence for the absolute prohibition of oaths in Judaism. Rather, an oath
invoked God to guarantee the truth of what was being sworn or promised, or to
punish the one taking the oath if he was not faithful to his word.

The Matthean
Jesus here, rules out oaths completely. He rejects not only false and
unnecessary oaths, but also any attempt to bolster one’s statement claim to
truth beyond the bare statement of it. It is a demand for truthfulness in
everything that one says.

If we
are convinced that we are telling the truth as we see it, there may not be any
need for us to either raise our voices when making our point or to swear or
even to call others to witness what we have said.

About Me

There are four maxims I try to live by. The first is to ALWAYS have CHOICES about everything. The more choices I have, the less the chances of my being disappointed.
The Second is that I try to see my REWARD in the doing of the action itself. I will expect nothing from anyone in return and even expect the very ones I have helped to be ungrateful. It does not matter. I do not mind.
The third is that every stage in my life I try to KNOW where my authority ends. This saves a lot of bother. I am not the General Manager of the Universe. I do what I have to do and leave the rest to God.
The fourth is a readiness to face the consequences of my action. When I make a gaffe I am willing to rectify it and apologize. However, if it cannot be rectified I am ready to face the penalty.